Thought For The Day

Spark That Engine With A Laser

Yet another breakthrough in energy efficiency comes from a Japanese company that has developed a laser spark plug for internal combustion engines. It may be possible to develop conversion kits for vehicles already on the road. The savings in energy efficiency could be substantial. Every little bit helps. Hurry up!

Building Guitars You'll Keep

Santa Cruz Guitar Co. is hand-crafting some fine acoustic guitars. Learn why that is important for the lucky souls that are fortunate enough to own them.

Why You Should Care About the iPhone Location-Tracking Issue

As much as I like Apple technology, this bit of information released last week is disturbing. Both Apple and MicroSoft have been cozying up to the Feds for some years now. People need to be seeking the true agenda.

Going Electric on the Highway

Jim Hopf, senior nuclear engineer of EnergySolutions (same company I work for) gives his assessment of the current status of the electric automobile in the USA. He sounds pretty optimistic and he is putting his money where his mouth is.

Sunlight Straight To Power

Researchers at the Univ. of Michigan have discovered a way to convert sunlight directly to electric power without traditional semiconductor based solar cells using magnetic effects of photons that has been thought by established physics to be insignificant.

Light at the right intensity traveling through a non-conducting material can generate magnetic effects that are 100 million times stronger that previously expected. This article states that this is very early major news.

A New Way to Produce Hydrogen

A research group from Switzerland has developed a new catalyst that is a breakthrough in the generation of hydrogen. One step closer to economic hydrogen production from water.

Homes Built With Help From Google

A couple in rural Fairview, Tennessee used a 3D modeling program called Sketchup from Google to design and build a solar powered home. There is a free download and pro-version that must be purchased. Sketchup can be used to model almost anything from coffee cups to buildings.

iPads Cost Jobs???

Lee Stranahan has an interesting analysis of how digital technology is changing the traditional jobs in our economy. It's not just due to the production and sales of iPads. We need to be thinking about how we transition work in our economy. Technology has the potential to empower individuals to transform the way we live. How do we "raise all boats?"

Effects of Cobalt-60 on Health

I forwarded the pdf of the paper linked in this installment of Seeker Blog to several of my nuke friends. So far, I don't think there are any major holes in the conclusions, but the paper may not actually be published in a peer reviewed journal to day.

The paper has some interesting conclusions. Be sure to check out some of the more recent articles at this blog site that discuss the linear no threshold (LNT) concept.

Updated Reading List

Currently, I'm focused on two books. One is "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Suddhartha Mukherjee. I'm about half way into it but I give it high marks. Mukherjee does a great job is describing the history of this disease and the twists and turns of medical research of the last 200 years.

The other book is one I've had on the shelf for several years, but for some reason just never got started on it. It's "Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman" by James Gleick. Feynman was definitely someone who thought outside the proverbial box. I'm still in the first quarter of the book, but it is a great read if you have any interest on the history of modern physics and the insatiable appetite for understanding the workings of our universe.

Gleick is also the author of "Chaos: Making a New Science" which I hope to get to in the not too distant future.

Traveling-Wave Power Reactor

TerraPower LLC is promoting a new design of a nuclear power reactor that essentially burns spent nuclear fuel from existing power reactors (I wonder what kind of reactor Steve Jobs would promote). One of the key backers is no other than Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. The reactor is known as the traveling-wave reactor. It can run for decades before it needs refueling.

This type of reactor technology would certainly help diffuse the urgency of a long-term spent fuel depository, i.e. Yucca Mt. in Nevada. Unfortunately, it could take 10 years to get regulatory approval to build a unit in the USA.

High Resolution Photos of the Fukushima Damage

Best photos that I've seen to date on the damage at the Fukushima reactor complex. A drone airplane was used to shoot these photos.

Organic Bach in Nature

Cruise Ship Timelapses

I recommend 720i and full screen.